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Thursday, March 3, 2011

My underwear have lots of holes

You read that correctly. My underwear have lots of holes. Many of them have come apart at the elastic seam. Some literally just have holes in them. One of them is actually just super loose, and I rely on my pants to hold them on. Take a look for yourself.

The one that needs help from pants

The elastic still goes the other 80% of the way around!

Tiny holes just waiting to grow into great big holes

underwear spaghetti

size doesn't matter

I generally wear tighty whities because that's what I grew up wearing in India, and that's what everyone wears in India. I have a couple of boxers that my cousin from England offloaded to me, but I really don't like them. Boxers are super uncomfortable because they provide no support. It just like if women went on a run with just a t-shirt on, no bra. Yeah. Don't judge. Another male you dearly love probably wears tighty whities, too.

You might be wondering why I am telling you about my underwear. Well, last night when Laura, Tara and I were at a Re-Skilling workshop learning to make soap, and the lady hosting the event passed around little chits of paper with suggestions on how to tread lighter on this planet. We had to choose a partner, and discuss whether or not we would incorporate the suggestion into our lives. Laura and I got, 'I will use used linens for bedsheets.' I said that I would, especially when the time comes around. I actually have been using blankets other people gave up for a long time now. But Laura mentioned that bedsheets are personal, and it might be just odd to sleep on sheets someone else slept on (or did other things on). I mentioned that I didn't see a difference between bedsheets and say, t-shirts and pants, which also have had close contact with other people's skin and bodies. Of course, the discussion quickly transitioned to underwear. "Would you wear used underwear?" I asked. Hmm..

Underwear are personal, and at least women don't seem to mind spending loads of money on them. Used underwear just seem like a thought a little uncomfortable for people to handle it seems, myself included, to some extent. I haven't really bought underwear in years ("No shit," you might say), and the seven new underwear that I have were actually bought for me by my mum who made an executive decision to buy them and give them to me. Most of my underwear are eight to ten years old. I probably have fifteen or so underwear, and so they've gotten a lot of use. By the laws of physics and chemistry, my underwear have consequently turned, bit by bit, day by day, into underwear vapour. (You actually might be breathing my underwear vapour right now. Don't worry, I'm probably breathing your underwear vapour.) I have thought about buying used underwear - I've definitely seen underwear at Kiwani's Club. I just haven't garnered the mental fortitude to do so.

About Me

This blog will chronicle my thoughts, and the thoughts of others, about society, ethics, justice, philosophy and economy, as we try to reduce our ecological impacts. I am also attempting to produce no (or as little as is possible) trash (including recyclables!). Click on "About...more than just trash" for details. From 29 March, 2010 to 29 March, 2011, I produced seven and a half pounds of trash (four lbs of glass, three pounds of paper, and half a pound of non-recyclables). In year two, this number went down to six. Year three didn't work as well, because I moved away from Ann Arbor. Now, I am trying to figure out how to live the way that I want to where I am. As Professor Princen has told me about this - "I see this as part of a larger "project" of "zero"-- i.e., there are some things that just don't belong in an ecologically sustainable world." Trash has provided a wonderful lens through which to view my behaviour, and the behaviour of our societies.
If you have comments, questions, criticisms, or thoughts to share, you can comment on the blog, or email me at dippind@umich.edu. I absolutely look forward to reading and hearing what you have to say.